Post by RAM on Jun 12, 2024 15:46:32 GMT
--------
November 5, 2019
Outside Dr. Seager's office, shortly after the lunch period...
As they stood at attention, R.A. Marshall and Rydia Palmer heard muffled adult screaming coming from an older female through the closed door. It wasn't a pleasant sound in their minds as they locked eyes upon each other, trying to size up the situation.
"I'm wonderin' what they're screamin' about in there..."
"I don't think they're discussing California Raisins, that's for sure..."
Ram chuckled, allowing his "future self" to communicate through his brain.
{ ...first things first Doc, here's a l'il context. Rydia and I had made and uploaded a video to YouTube showin' the jocks drinkin' Bud Light underage. They were star QB Bobby Figgins, star wideout Travis "Hot Hands" Holland, and star pass rusher Reggie "Ragtime" Cromwell... }
Rydia took a deep breath as the vociferous shouting continued inside the office.
"So, this is Dr. Seager's office, right...?"
"Yup -- the principal, the head honcho, the true Queen Hawk around here."
Pause. One can hear Mr. Connery's voice bellow out "PLEASE! FOR GOD'S SAKES, LET'S HAVE CVILITY IN HERE!" through the doorway. }
"Goin' to Mr. Connery's office is bad enough, but you'd have to do somethin' REALLY dumb in order to end up in Dr. Seager's domain."
"And I guess you've had experience on that, huh?!"
The screaming subsided for a moment, allowing Ram to gather his thoughts.
{ ...with that bein' said, the dumbest thing I ever did in high school... }
He cleared his throat, then made his confession.
"I punched out my Biology teacher last year. Black dude, DEI hire, he didn't know what the hell he was doin'. So I told him that to his face -- he didn't like it one bit."
Rydia raised her left brow and gasped.
"POW! Guy thought he was Mike Tyson but I knocked his precious gold tooth out. I stood over that guy with a smirk on my face, watched him bleed like a pig..."
At the word "POW!," Ram pounded his fist on the wall before smirking -- a mannerism reminiscent of his abusive uncle David Grawn.
{ ...there you have it, Doc. I ain't afraid of punchin' out authority figures -- male, female, nepos, DEIs, or jocks... }
Rydia solemnly shook her head.
"Oh my God, I can't believe you'd do that. Did he press any charges?"
"Well, for starters I got booted for a week. After that, Dr. Seager had me do community service work for the rest of that year in lieu of any other charges -- teacher agreed, so did the cops. They didn't want to make a bigger stink out of it than it already was. Thing is, though..."
Ram sighed.
"Now, you understand the ugly part of myself -- very much a reminder of my abusive uncle. It's a part of me that I can't even shake off. No matter how hard I try..."
Another pause. The muffled voices inside Dr. Seager's office resumed, but nobody was screaming at each other this time.
"It's like a demon that just keeps comin' back for more."
Rydia tried to place a hand on Ram's shoulder, but he flinched.
"Hey, I...I understand. Sometimes it takes courage to try and shake that stuff off, no matter the odds..."
"There's gonna be a day in which I won't be able to control myself..."
Ram gulped. Rydia tried to wrap her left arm around him this time, and he basically just let her do so. In his mind, he felt a sense of awkward embarrassment.
"That's why I made a solemn vow to back you up, no matter the cost to my own well-bein'. I'd rather die than watch a gal I like get...ya know...seduced, to put it mildly."
She blushed.
"Awww...that's really sweet of you."
Rydia smiled at Ram.
"Did Dr. Seager give you any options for community service?"
"There was one option that I happily took -- buildin' computers and mainframes. All the new computers in the lab right now?"
Pause. The muffled voices stopped once more, perhaps deliberating amongst themselves.
"You built them by hand?! Wow...!!"
"Damn straight, I did -- well, with a l'il teachin' from the tech folks. They had a surplus on funds, so parts were easy to acquire -- SSDs, sticks of RAM, etc. Workin' on 'em was a blast, I'll admit."
"That's how you fell in love with the hobby..."
Ram nodded. On cue, the door to Dr. Seager's office opened up. Three adults marched out of the room wearing all black business attire, led by a female in her mid-40s sporting brunette hair. They all had dour expressions on thier faces as Ram's "future self" spoke in his mind.
{ ...ahh yeah, introductions. We had Mr. Sam Holland, Travis' dad and a hotshot prosecutor workin' for the Tarrant County DA's office. Then, there was Mr. Byron Cromwell, owner of his own State Farm insurance agency in Watauga and Reggie's dad, and then there was Mrs. Nancy Figgins, a judge in the U.S. Federal District Court workin' in Dallas. All three of 'em were high-priced fuckers, off of 'em were prominent members of the Watauga school board, and all of 'em were pissed off... }
Mrs. Figgins, the mother of Bobby Figgins and his younger brother Tommy, was the more pissed off of the school board members. She gave both Ram and Rydia a death stare.
"...you......"
The two students stood silently as Mrs. Figgins' lips quivered.
"...the nerve of you..."
Ram and Rydia closed their eyes and listened intently.
"...you took EVERYTHING from my dear Bobby..."
Mrs. Figgins stormed out of the main waiting area. A flustered Mr. Connery stepped out, his visage sweating bullets.
"Well, I think that'll just about cover the extracurricular activities..."
Next, out came Watauga Hawks head football coach Frank Evanston, a Philly native through and through with a voice that sounded like Sylvester Stallone.
"I'll hand it to you, son...you've got some big cojones...and your friend, too."
As the vice-principal and football coach took their leave, Dr. Linda Seager stepped outside. A stately woman in her late-60s, Dr. Seager earned a Ph.D. in Education from UT-Austin and had been in the field for nearly 45 years. She approached the two students and cleared her throat.
"Come on in."
Ram and Rydia both nodded before stepping into Dr. Seager's ofice, with the longtime principal closing the door behind them.
{ ...and just like that, into the hawk's nest we went... }
To be continued...
-------
November 5, 2019
Outside Dr. Seager's office, shortly after the lunch period...
As they stood at attention, R.A. Marshall and Rydia Palmer heard muffled adult screaming coming from an older female through the closed door. It wasn't a pleasant sound in their minds as they locked eyes upon each other, trying to size up the situation.
"I'm wonderin' what they're screamin' about in there..."
"I don't think they're discussing California Raisins, that's for sure..."
Ram chuckled, allowing his "future self" to communicate through his brain.
{ ...first things first Doc, here's a l'il context. Rydia and I had made and uploaded a video to YouTube showin' the jocks drinkin' Bud Light underage. They were star QB Bobby Figgins, star wideout Travis "Hot Hands" Holland, and star pass rusher Reggie "Ragtime" Cromwell... }
Rydia took a deep breath as the vociferous shouting continued inside the office.
"So, this is Dr. Seager's office, right...?"
"Yup -- the principal, the head honcho, the true Queen Hawk around here."
Pause. One can hear Mr. Connery's voice bellow out "PLEASE! FOR GOD'S SAKES, LET'S HAVE CVILITY IN HERE!" through the doorway. }
"Goin' to Mr. Connery's office is bad enough, but you'd have to do somethin' REALLY dumb in order to end up in Dr. Seager's domain."
"And I guess you've had experience on that, huh?!"
The screaming subsided for a moment, allowing Ram to gather his thoughts.
{ ...with that bein' said, the dumbest thing I ever did in high school... }
He cleared his throat, then made his confession.
"I punched out my Biology teacher last year. Black dude, DEI hire, he didn't know what the hell he was doin'. So I told him that to his face -- he didn't like it one bit."
Rydia raised her left brow and gasped.
"POW! Guy thought he was Mike Tyson but I knocked his precious gold tooth out. I stood over that guy with a smirk on my face, watched him bleed like a pig..."
At the word "POW!," Ram pounded his fist on the wall before smirking -- a mannerism reminiscent of his abusive uncle David Grawn.
{ ...there you have it, Doc. I ain't afraid of punchin' out authority figures -- male, female, nepos, DEIs, or jocks... }
Rydia solemnly shook her head.
"Oh my God, I can't believe you'd do that. Did he press any charges?"
"Well, for starters I got booted for a week. After that, Dr. Seager had me do community service work for the rest of that year in lieu of any other charges -- teacher agreed, so did the cops. They didn't want to make a bigger stink out of it than it already was. Thing is, though..."
Ram sighed.
"Now, you understand the ugly part of myself -- very much a reminder of my abusive uncle. It's a part of me that I can't even shake off. No matter how hard I try..."
Another pause. The muffled voices inside Dr. Seager's office resumed, but nobody was screaming at each other this time.
"It's like a demon that just keeps comin' back for more."
Rydia tried to place a hand on Ram's shoulder, but he flinched.
"Hey, I...I understand. Sometimes it takes courage to try and shake that stuff off, no matter the odds..."
"There's gonna be a day in which I won't be able to control myself..."
Ram gulped. Rydia tried to wrap her left arm around him this time, and he basically just let her do so. In his mind, he felt a sense of awkward embarrassment.
"That's why I made a solemn vow to back you up, no matter the cost to my own well-bein'. I'd rather die than watch a gal I like get...ya know...seduced, to put it mildly."
She blushed.
"Awww...that's really sweet of you."
Rydia smiled at Ram.
"Did Dr. Seager give you any options for community service?"
"There was one option that I happily took -- buildin' computers and mainframes. All the new computers in the lab right now?"
Pause. The muffled voices stopped once more, perhaps deliberating amongst themselves.
"You built them by hand?! Wow...!!"
"Damn straight, I did -- well, with a l'il teachin' from the tech folks. They had a surplus on funds, so parts were easy to acquire -- SSDs, sticks of RAM, etc. Workin' on 'em was a blast, I'll admit."
"That's how you fell in love with the hobby..."
Ram nodded. On cue, the door to Dr. Seager's office opened up. Three adults marched out of the room wearing all black business attire, led by a female in her mid-40s sporting brunette hair. They all had dour expressions on thier faces as Ram's "future self" spoke in his mind.
{ ...ahh yeah, introductions. We had Mr. Sam Holland, Travis' dad and a hotshot prosecutor workin' for the Tarrant County DA's office. Then, there was Mr. Byron Cromwell, owner of his own State Farm insurance agency in Watauga and Reggie's dad, and then there was Mrs. Nancy Figgins, a judge in the U.S. Federal District Court workin' in Dallas. All three of 'em were high-priced fuckers, off of 'em were prominent members of the Watauga school board, and all of 'em were pissed off... }
Mrs. Figgins, the mother of Bobby Figgins and his younger brother Tommy, was the more pissed off of the school board members. She gave both Ram and Rydia a death stare.
"...you......"
The two students stood silently as Mrs. Figgins' lips quivered.
"...the nerve of you..."
Ram and Rydia closed their eyes and listened intently.
"...you took EVERYTHING from my dear Bobby..."
Mrs. Figgins stormed out of the main waiting area. A flustered Mr. Connery stepped out, his visage sweating bullets.
"Well, I think that'll just about cover the extracurricular activities..."
Next, out came Watauga Hawks head football coach Frank Evanston, a Philly native through and through with a voice that sounded like Sylvester Stallone.
"I'll hand it to you, son...you've got some big cojones...and your friend, too."
As the vice-principal and football coach took their leave, Dr. Linda Seager stepped outside. A stately woman in her late-60s, Dr. Seager earned a Ph.D. in Education from UT-Austin and had been in the field for nearly 45 years. She approached the two students and cleared her throat.
"Come on in."
Ram and Rydia both nodded before stepping into Dr. Seager's ofice, with the longtime principal closing the door behind them.
{ ...and just like that, into the hawk's nest we went... }
To be continued...
-------
Well howdy there pardner.